Category Archives: Inspiration

A firm visit in Culver City

For my Professional Practice class, my group and I got the chance to visit an architecture firm called Berliner and Associates the other day that’s located in Culver City. We got to ask them a bunch of questions about the business aspect of running a firm, what kind of projects they take on, what their philosophy is, etc. It was a great experience. The people working there were super chill and it showed that they enjoy what they do.

The office itself surprised me. From the outside, it sort of blended into the fabric of the street, but on the inside it had a completely different feel. It’s a beautiful working space with high ceilings and interesting textures. I don’t know what the place is like when it gets very busy, but it seems like a very calm environment.

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This was the materials library. It was filled with swatches and materials. Overwhelmingly awesome.

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This is Ballona Creek. Almost two years ago, I had a studio that dealt with this creek. My site for that studio was a couple of blocks down from the firm. It was nice to visit the site again and remember all the feelings associated with that project. The gloomy weather was also reminiscent of that time.

P1070367Untitled-1My group.

Hope you guys are having a good week so far~ Take care!

by Lolo Posted on February 6, 2013
Posted in Architecture, Inspiration, School | 4 Comments

I can see the finish line…almost

My last semester has begun. It is a really exciting and nerve-racking time. It has been a long journey and it’s all gonna be over soon~ I’m very excited for my degree project…I really like the subjects I’m dealing with. Here’s to hoping that everything comes together nicely in the end~

I’ve been experiencing some severe nostalgia for the past two weeks. Maybe it’s the cold that’s messing with my head or something. I keep getting waves of feelings that remind of five/six years ago. It’s nice~ I think I’m relating this final year a lot to my first year of architecture school….some of the same anxious feelings have surfaced but I’m embracing them.

For five years, I’ve had studio on Tuesdays and Fridays but for degree project students, studio is on Mondays and Thursdays. This is the first Friday in five years were I am free (not really free….have to work on studio but stillllll)~

And on a different note. I was in India a year ago. Time flies. I tied pink and yellow kite strings to my wrist during the Ahmedabad kite festival and I haven’t taken them off since. The beautiful colors have washed~

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Gonna get back to my work <3

by Lolo Posted on January 18, 2013
Posted in Inspiration, Personal, School | 2 Comments

Most Pathetic Set of Photographs

Randomly decided to go see the Leonid meteor shower with two friends last night. We had originally wanted to go on Saturday but it was raining.

I met up with them at 11: 30 pm….we stopped by a store and bought drinks and snacks and then headed up to Angeles Crest. We drove up over 3,000 ft and stopped on the side of the road where we had a great view of the city. We faced the opposite direction so that the lights wouldn’t bother us. I had brought along mats that we laid down on. It was really cold. My hands freeze so easily so I had to bring two sets of gloves…pathetic. It’s difficult to eat with gloves on.

We didn’t have high expectations for this shower but we were pleasantly surprised~ We saw over twenty shooting stars. Five of those were pretty big. There was one that made our night….it was a fireball….it’s tail left a mark in the sky for a couple of seconds. After we saw that one, nothing really impressed us.

It was pitch black. My phone camera didn’t know how to focus.

Jupiter.

The clearest photograph: the aftermath. Armenians love to eat seeds.

We got home at around 3:30 am. I went straight to bed because I had studio today. Now I’m sitting at home…listening to music and drawing <3

by Lolo Posted on November 21, 2012
Posted in Inspiration, Personal | 1 Comment

All this machinery making modern music can still be open-hearted. Not so coldly charted, it’s really just a question of your honesty.

Yesterday was one of the most magical nights I’ve experienced in a long long time~ I went to see Rush in Anaheim with my dad!

I had bought us tickets about a month and a half ago. I had wanted to buy them earlier when they had just gone on sale but I was feeling hopeless and didn’t think it would work out because of my mom’s situation. But around a month and a half ago, I decided that I had to see them live and that my dad had to come with me no matter what – no regrets~

I was at my best friend’s birthday party when my dad came and picked me up. It was pouring rain on our way to Anaheim. We were listening to Rush on our way there~ We are both extremely happy that we were able to go. It was so wonderful.

The Honda Center was huge. I’m always in awe of large stadiums. It’s great sitting in such a huge place, surrounded by so many people that are just as excited as you are.

Rush came on at 7:45 and they played till about 11. During the first half they played a bunch of old songs. They took a short break and came back and played songs from Clockwork Angels and then played a bunch of old songs again~!!!

I love Alex, Geddy, and Neil. They were amazing. My favorite is Neil…I am so happy I finally got to see him play a drumsolo live <3 <3 <3

During the break, my dad went down to buy some beer and came back with a shirt for me <3

Ahhhhhh I wish I could rewind to last night~ My favorite song of the night was Spirit of the Radio….everyone was jumping around….so much energy <3

Here is an older performance of theirs…..they sounded exactly like this <3

Happy Sunday, everyone <3

by Lolo Posted on November 18, 2012
Posted in Inspiration, Personal | 4 Comments

Stormy weather days make us go our separate ways

Had another fun weekend mixed with school work – as always. November is a busy month because it’s everyone’s birthday. My mom’s is coming up in two weeks. We’re trying to plan something fun for her~

Been working on studio. I’ve got a review coming up on Friday. Trying to get a head start so I can focus on thesis work too. We had a review for that on Friday and it went well, but something just didn’t feel right and it’s been bothering me ever since. Don’t really want to get into it. I just need to rethink some things.

On Saturday I am going to a Rush concert! Can’t believe I’ll get to see them play in a couple of days. I look up to Neil Peart a lot <3

Speaking of musicians that make me feel happy – I’ve been blasting Jamiroquai for the past week. Their music reminds me of my childhood. I got exposed to MTV Europe when my family moved into an apartment in Sweden that had cable. I would watch their ‘Virtual Reality’ video everyday and try to sing and dance like Jay Kay. They bring me a lot of good, funky vibes.

Seven Days of Sunny June – One of my favorite songs.

Half the Man – Even their break up songs are upbeat <3

OKAY. BACK TO WORK. <3

by Lolo Posted on November 13, 2012
Posted in Inspiration, Personal, School | 4 Comments

A Day in the Gardens

Had another super eventful weekend. Friday right after studio, we went to the Korean Spa again. Same group of people plus another friend joined in this time. It was good. I had a really bad headache the entire day so sitting in the sauna was a good way to relax.

Saturday I did a good deal of studio work. I have a pin up tomorrow, so I was trying to get a lot done. At night I met up with some old ‘Tae Kwon Do’ friends. I used to do Tae Kwon Do from middle school till I started college. I rarely get to see all the friends I made from there so we plan a couple of get togethers every year. Last year I went to see System of Down with a couple of them. On Saturday we all went to Koreatown for karaoke. I had never gone before – it was sooooo much fun. We are definitely doing that again.

Sunday morning we woke up early because we had reservations at the Huntington Gardens Tea Room~ Our friend got engaged there last Sunday so we wanted to go there to celebrate. We walked around the beautiful gardens and reenacted the proposal every time we saw a bench. It was awesome <3 The place was beautiful….so many different types of plants. It’s amazing that that place exists in the middle of a city~

Now it’s Monday. This week will be hectic, but the weekend will be here soon again~

by Lolo Posted on November 5, 2012
Posted in Inspiration, Personal | 3 Comments

SIBLING BROS UNITED


The weekend has been incredible in every way. I presented my midterm on Tuesday and had a huge assignment due on Friday, so I hadn’t slept all week. Friday, right after studio, I was picked up by my sister and my two friends and we drove to Koreatown (right next to my site for studio) and went to a Korean spa called Wi Spa. We got there at around 8pm and left at 1:30am (it’s open 24hrs). The co-ed part of the spa had a manga section, food, and all the different heat rooms. We had so much fun~ I almost fell asleep in the salt room and my friends dragged me out of there so I wouldn’t die hahaha. I was exhausted from the week.

Early Saturday morning, my sister and I drove out to Irvine to visit our bros. They go to school there and we don’t get to see them enough. We made plans a month ago to hang out~ I got to hang with them a week ago for a little bit since they wanted to give me my birthday present (they got me a Hylian shield hahahaha it’s so cool)~ When we said bye, I was so sad…especially since I knew the week was gonna be tough, but meeting up renewed my energy and allowed me to push through the week~

We had an awesome time. Us four could sit in a room and stare at a wall and be happy – we mesh well with each other. So well, in fact, that it becomes difficult to leave. Having good friends is the greatest. Earlier today, my sister and I were moping around since we are apart from them. We are planing another sibling day <3

He has the greatest head of hair. I am jealous.

The weekend ended amazingly well because our other friend got engaged~!!!! We went out for ramen to celebrate <3 My sister and I had called the proposal the day that we all went to the spa so when we got a call from our friend saying that his sister was engaged we just yelled “WE KNEWWW ITTTTTT!!!!” She is so happy and it makes me happy~ <3 <3 <3 YAYYY~ So much positive energy flowing through me that this week will be a piece of cake <3 I love cake~

OKAY. It is late. Good night <3

 

by Lolo Posted on October 29, 2012
Posted in Inspiration, Personal, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Bridging Fields

I was reading a bunch of random magazines over the weekend at Barnes & Noble and I came across this article that made me extremely excited. Tadao Ando is a Japanese architect whose work I really like because of the atmospheric qualities he creates in spaces through the use of material and light. Ubisoft was inspired by Ando’s work while making the latest Assassin’s Creed game and it clearly shows in the images featured in the article.

Some of Ando’s work:

What excites me is the bridging between architecture and gaming. Two different fields coming together beautifully.

by Lolo Posted on October 24, 2012
Posted in Architecture, Inspiration | 13 Comments